


Aubade, Serenade

by ShadowLink720



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: (the latter of which will happen eventually gfhdghhfg), Alternate Universe, M/M, consider it a....... medium burn kind of thing, tags will be added and ratings changed when necessary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 18:03:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19399495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowLink720/pseuds/ShadowLink720
Summary: When day meets night, the land shall be coated in a gentle twilight. Dusk and dawn become nigh impossible to differentiate, and the light shall be radiant enough to reveal the truth.





	Aubade, Serenade

* * *

Olberic has only seen the night. It's his domain, it follows him everywhere. When he wanders, the land is blanketed in darkness.

He is, after all, the moon - vigilantly watching over the quiet world, granting enough light for those who remain awake to do what they will. Whether it be for travellers to find their way by, perhaps to set the mood for a passionate reunion of lovers who have spent far too long apart, or perhaps to provide company for some poor soul plagued with sleeplessness.

It's a quiet world he lives in.

How fitting, then, that he prefers such.

He observes the world in quiet solitude, for the most part. Occasionally he will have visitors, but they are oft few and far between. After all, other deities are active mostly during the day.

…

The day.

Olberic has never seen it. He can't, really, given his duties and position.

He has heard of it, though, from the Summer and Spring especially, who both speak so fondly of it. He has heard it is bright, and lively. The polar opposite of the silent realm he oversees. When described, often does he feel like it would be too hectic for him to deal with.

But every once in a while, he finds himself  _ curious _ . Curious to witness it even just once.

It would seem tonight is one of those nights.

The silence is broken by the crunch of frozen leaves underfoot. Olberic glances over to see the Winter, Ophilia.

"Hey. Sorry, I'm... not interrupting you, am I?" she says, her voice is always soft, much like the snowfall that she conjures at her strongest.

Olberic shakes his head. "Make yourself at home." And that she does, deciding to sit with Olberic to watch the world around them.

She remains quiet for a while, seemingly debating on saying something. Eventually, with some encouragement from Olberic, she speaks.

"I just… well. My time is almost up," she mutters. "It won't be long now before Spring takes my place…"

As Ophilia trails off, Olberic notices her hands trembling ever so slightly.

"... Are you nervous?" Olberic asks, with his own usual softness.

Ophilia looks away as her cheeks flush red. "I… hm… I suppose 'afraid' is probably more accurate," she admits. "Every day I feel my power growing weaker, and... H'aanit is already beginning to stir. It just… feels like a timer… I just can't stop worrying that... I won't wake up again, for some reason."

Gloved hands find their way to Ophilia's own and he gives them a light squeeze to help keep her grounded. "You will wake up again," he reassures. "You always have, and you always will. You will reawaken when you have the strength to."

Ophilia slowly nods, smiling to try to let Olberic know that it helped. But he can still see it, the worry hidden just behind her eyes.

So he moves his hands from her own, to around her shoulders in a hug.

The Moon and the Winter spend a lot of time together, after all, as the Sun (supposedly) gets exhausted very quickly around this time of year.

But gradually, as time will march on, their roles will slowly reverse, as Olberic will begin to grow weary quickly, and the Sun grows far more active.

Ophilia looks ready to fall asleep in his arms, right then and there.

"Hey, it's not quite time yet," he whispers. "The equinox will be upon us soon."

The Winter blinks her eyes open, and she gives an embarrassed laugh. "Goodness, I'm sorry about that," she says, assessing with her hands just how warm her cheeks have grown. The answer is 'very'. "Ah. I should… continue preparations, actually." And with that, she stands up, thanks Olberic for his time, and makes her way into the forest, out of sight.

Leaving Olberic alone with his thoughts again.

Thoughts that end up wandering back to the Sun.

...

……

Olberic has only ever caught little glimpses of the Sun, he realises. He doesn't even know what they look like. They're always gone before his eyes can adjust to the light.

… He wants to, though. They already work in tandem, after all.

Maybe he'll try to stick around a bit longer than usual.

* * *

The sky begins to lighten, ever so slightly, marking the Sun's impending arrival.

And with a nervous sigh, Olberic steels his resolve and heads towards where the sky is changing from.

Oh aye, many a tale has he heard of the Sun, of the Day. Lively, bright, radiant, colourful, warm…

In many ways, they sound like a complete parallel to himself.

_ What if it's too much? _ He thinks, before shaking away the thought.

_ They're likely so bright that they’ll barely even notice my presence. _

That makes him feel… a little bit better. Sort of.

As he walks, making barely a sound aside from the crackling of the frozen ground underfoot, he begins to hear something.

Birdsong.

And he notices a light fog rolling in.

It would seem he's getting close.

And then he starts to hear something else.

It sounds like… a guitar, of sorts?

Olberic finds himself stopping to listen more closely.

The melody sounds… vaguely familiar.

He stays still to listen, the strums accompanied by the birdsong is… calming. It hardly sounds lively at all. (At least, not an energetic kind of lively, though the dawn is far from over).

…

Oh, wait, he was doing this for a reason.

Cursing himself for getting distracted, Olberic continues towards the sound. Sparing a glance up through the trees tells him that the sky grows lighter with every moment. He also realises that he's heading closer to the strumming.

Is the Sun playing it?

It's very close now. But it's getting so bright that Olberic is having difficulty seeing.

He stumbles out of the main body of the forest, the fog still lying lazily on the ground.

His eyes still haven't adjusted, but he can make out a figure, sitting by the roots of an old oak with something in their hands, overlooking the deep, deep valley and vast mountain range stretching out before them.

It's them. It must be.

...

Why aren't his eyes adjusting.

Suddenly, the strumming stops, and Olberic could swear that the world around him gets a little less bright. The light doesn't hurt so much anymore.

Olberic opens his eyes properly to see the figure looking back at him.

Aye, that's the Sun alright.

Instinctively, Olberic looks away. But in the corner of his vision, the Sun tilts his head.

"I… dinnae believe we've met." He says, with a voice the Olberic cannot place. It sounds nothing like anything Olberic has heard before.

The Sun's eyes perk up in recognition. "Oh! You must be the Moon, aren't you?"

Olberic, still trying to find somewhere else to look, nods.

The Sun gives a smile. Olberic manages to see it properly, and it leaves him without words. The Sun is so…  _ bright _ . How can anyone get used to such an intense presence?

"I've been wanting to meet you for a while," The Sun says with a sigh. "But I could never find you. Oh, sorry, perhaps someone already told you, but I'm Erhardt."

Erhardt.

Erhardt…

For some reason, it sounds different coming from the Sun himself.

"What's yours, if I'm allowed to ask?" He says. To be polite, perhaps. Unless… genuinely no one Erhardt has talked to has so much as mentioned Olberic's name to him. He's not too keen on that thought. But he can't quite place why.

"... Olberic." Says the Moon, finally finding his voice again.

Erhardt seems to stare a wee while longer, lips still curled in that grin.

"Olberic." Erhardt repeats. Again, it sounds so different when said by him. "Aye, you really are the moon, then."

With his eyes gradually adjusting, and Olberic feeling less put on the spot, he is able to gather more details about Erhardt's appearance.

One of the first things he notices is Erhardt's eyes. A bright green, like how the Seasons described the grass and the trees during the day. But underneath their brilliant hue, there seems to be a hint of weariness. Although, that could be explained by the fact that it is still Winter's time, and added on to that is the sun only just rising. Erhardt is likely just still waking up.

"So what brings you?" Erhardt's question pulls Olberic out of his thoughts.

Ah. Hm. This may be awkward.

"I just… well… it recently occurred to me that I've… never really met you before." He says.

… Aye, it's definitely awkward.

"I see." Erhardt seems not to notice, though (or perhaps he has noticed it all  _ too  _ much… Olberic isn't sure which one would be worse).

Erhardt casts his gaze out, seemingly not to anything in particular save for the mountain range itself.

"I oft come here first thing," he explains, his eyes fixed to the horizon, strumming gently once more. "I like to bring the day with a little song… like the birds, I suppose." He chuckles under his breath. "Aah, but I guess you didn't ask, did ye? Apologies."

"N-no, I- ah... I don't mind hearing about it." Hm. An oddly quick response…

"You certain?" Erhardt asks, there seems to be a hint of mischief in his tone. (There's certainly a glint in those bright eyes… who could say what it was). "Some have told me I could probably ramble fit to rival the god of Knowledge himself."

Now  _ that _ Olberic doubts. No one can talk to rival  _ Cyrus _ .

Olberic hums. It would seem he's starting to get a little more comfortable.

"Aye. I don't mind." He says, with more confidence this time.

Erhardt casts him a glance. "If you insist…" he mutters, before pursing his lips and strumming again. "Perhaps another time, though. You… look very tired."

Olberic's eyes widen. "I do…?" He must look  _ awful _ . Suddenly, the growing confidence is quickly replaced with self consciousness.

And, of course, as soon as Erhardt mentioned it, he  _ felt _ it. He realised just how heavy his body was with fatigue. The Sun was right, he should rest.

"... Alright. I, ah… I'll do that." He mutters, face warm with embarrassment.

With a quick bow of his head, he begins to make his way back into the forest. At the edge, he stops. "It was nice to finally meet you, Erhardt."

He does not wait long for a response. In truth, he barely hears it.

* * *

Erhardt watches the Moon leave, mindlessly strumming on his guitar. The look of Olberic’s face - so... anxious and distant - remains clear in his mind.

For some reason, it makes his chest hurt a little.

And his eyes. A dark, earthly brown. It makes the silver that lines his hair stand out more. Not in a bad way, of course. It suits him.

Olberic looks… very similar to how Erhardt thought he would, actually.

He shakes his head to bring himself back to the present, finally tearing his gaze away from the space Olberic once occupied.

But oh, does his mind wander. Erhardt should have asked more questions about him, but instead he had simply… answered questions Olberic had never asked.

But somehow… Erhardt could read them loud and clear in his eyes.

...

He smiles to himself, and looks forward to their next meeting.

**Author's Note:**

> basically it's a deity au hehe


End file.
